Books

The Tipping Point

Author: Malcolm Gladwell

The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.

Work In Progress

Authors: Michael Eisner / Tony Schwartz

In 1964, NBC clerk Michael Eisner made $65 a week. Though he only took one business course in his life–accounting–he did have a head for business: as CEO of Disney, he earned over half a billion bucks in 1997. Though he had no foundation in finance, he averted the bloody dismemberment of Disney by takeover sharks when he took over in 1984, and by May 1998 he earned over $80 billion for Disney stockholders. Not bad for a guy who, on his first day in Walt’s old office, met a manager of the film division BVD (Buena Vista Distribution) and innocently asked whether “Disney made underwear.

The Purple Cow

Author: Seth Godin

You’re either a Purple Cow or you’re not. You’re either remarkable or invisible. Face it, the checklist of tired ‘P’s marketers have used for decades to get their product noticed -Pricing, Promotion, Publicity, to name a few-aren’t working anymore. There’s an exceptionally important ‘P’ that has to be added to the list. It’s Purple Cow. Cows, after you’ve seen one, or two, or ten, are boring. A Purple Cow, though…now that would be something. Purple Cow describes something phenomenal, something counterintuitive and exciting and flat out unbelievable. And it’s not a marketing function that you can slap on to your product or service. Purple Cow is inherent. It’s built right in, or it’s not there. Period. It’s a manifesto for marketers who want to help create products that are worth marketing in the first place.

Camp

Author: Michael Eisner

Over the years, as a camper and a counselor, Disney CEO Michael Eisner absorbed the life lessons that come from sitting in the stern of a canoe or meeting around a campfire at night. With anecdotes from his time spent at Keewaydin and stories from his life in the upper echelons of American business that illustrate the camp’s continued influence, Eisner creates a touching and insightful portrait of his own coming-of-age, as well as a resounding declaration of summer camp as an invaluable national institution.

Walt Disney: An American Original

Author: Bob Thomas

Walt Disney is an American hero–the creator of Mickey Mouse, and a man who changed the face of American culture. After years of research, with the full cooperation of the Disney family and access to private papers and letters, Bob Thomas produced the definitive biography of the man behind the legend–the unschooled cartoonist from Kansas City who went bankrupt on his first movie venture but became the genius who produced unmatched works of animation. Complete with a rare collection of photographs, Bob Thomas’ biography is a fascinating and inspirational work that captures the spirit of Walt Disney.

The Outliers

Author: Malcolm Gladwell

In this stunning new book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of “outliers”–the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different? His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band. Brilliant and entertaining, Outliers is a landmark work that will simultaneously delight and illuminate.

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Author: Malcolm Gladwell

In Blink, Malcolm Gladwell revolutionizes the way we understand the world within. Blink is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in an instant-in the blink of an eye-that actually aren’t as simple as they seem. Why are some people brilliant decision makers, while others are consistently inept? Blink reveals that great decision makers aren’t those who process the most information or spend the most time deliberating, but those who have perfected the art of “thin-slicing”-filtering the very few factors that matter from an overwhelming number of variables.

No Asshole Rule

Author: Robert Sutton

When Robert Sutton’s “No Asshole Rule” appeared in the Harvard Business Review, readers of this staid publication were amazed at the outpouring of support for this landmark essay. The idea was based on the notion, as adapted in hugely successful companies like Google and SAS, that employees with malicious intents or negative attitudes destroyed any sort of productive and pleasant working environment, and would hinder the entire operation’s success. Using case studies from these and many more corporations that have had unquestioned success using variations of “The No Asshole Rule,” Sutton’s book aims to show managers that by hiring mean-spirited employees – regardless of talent – saps energy from everyone who must deal with said new hires.

Liberty’s Dawn

Author: Art Theocles

Okay, so it’s not business reference material – it’s penned by a friend of mine and I have an affinity for wanting people to succeed! It’s a great first novel and I highly recommend picking it up. The Liberty Trilogy contemplates the fragility of freedom and liberty by taking its readers on a fictional adventure through American history. Political and economic circumstance, patriotism, and faith guide the main characters through their unnatural journey. The first book, Liberty’s Dawn, occurs during the 1780-1781 years of the revolutionary conflict in North America’s southern colonies. Abruptly, an unseen force thrusts three friends back in time to witness the fall of Charleston to British forces loyal to King George in late spring of the year 1780. The friends soon discover an evil from America’s past is in the wrong place and at the wrong time. Will liberty and freedom expire before it takes root? Will evil triumph?